


A Lonely World

by BlackRoseShiori



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, sorry not sorry for the angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2020-03-26 13:06:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19006387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackRoseShiori/pseuds/BlackRoseShiori
Summary: Takes place immediately after "The Outsider."





	A Lonely World

"Gold."

Rumplestiltskin lifted his head and focused bleary eyes on Dr. Whale. Or Frankenstein. Or whatever damned thing he wanted to go by.

"How is she, doctor?" Rumplestiltskin asked, deciding to stick with the man's title rather than his name.

The doctor's lips thinned into a pale line as he answered. "Her wound is nonexistent; it seems you healed it perfectly with magic. She's exhausted and is exhibiting some signs of shock, but other than her memory loss, she and the baby are doing fine."

Rumplestiltskin stared at the doctor, unblinking. He had been sitting in the hospital waiting room for hours, and it was late. He must be hallucinating.

"Belle and the what now?" he mumbled at Whale, shaking his head and contemplating a fifth cup of coffee.

The doctor sighed. "The baby. The fetus wasn't harmed during the incident."

"Baby," the most powerful man in Storybrooke rolled the word around on his tongue as if it were something foreign.

"Yes," Whale said again, trying hard not to upset the Dark One. "Belle is about twelve weeks pregnant. You didn't know?"

Gold said nothing, which prompted the doctor to begin fidgeting, nervously. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, but he nearly fell over as Gold jumped to his feet and rushed to Belle's room faster than a man with a lame leg should be able to move.

Twelve weeks.

Rumplestiltskin kept repeating it over and over again in his mind. Twelve weeks since cursebreak. Twelve weeks since Belle had forgiven him for the wraith and he'd taken her home. She'd been with him for less than a month before he'd nearly lost her again.

Twelve weeks since the first time they'd made love on the too-large bed in his oversized room. She had stayed for three glorious weeks and chased the loneliness away.

In her stark hospital room, standing above her prone form, he watched the rhythm of her deep breathing and tried to calm his nerves. His eyes drifted down to her abdomen, where their child was growing. A child that neither of them had known about. Rumplestiltskin knew without a doubt that, had Belle realized her condition, she never would have gone after Hook on her own.

In another few weeks, her belly would begin to round with their child. She would glow with happiness, and Ruby and Granny would dote on her. He would insist that she move back in with him, so that they could be a proper family.

And she would have absolutely no idea who he was.

Broken and defeated, Rumplestiltskin collapsed to his knees by the side of Belle's bed. The pain in his leg was excruciating, but it was nothing compared to the pain in his heart.

He still had to find Bae…he was so close…but there was no way he could leave Belle in this condition.

Belle began to stir, and Rumplestiltskin looked up with the slightest glimmer of hope.

She smiled at him. 

Rumplestiltskin's heart swelled and he took her hand in his.

"Sweetheart?" he whispered. Belle's smile faltered.

"A-are…are you Mr. Gold?"


End file.
